


The Art of Relaxation

by dremma



Series: Saving Private Loco [4]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Donut holds weekly manicure parties, Lopez gets an android body bc he deserves to get his nails done too, Multi, and weekly pedicure parties, and weekly spa day, background Sarcus, but this one is the most popular, i promise i didnt forget about Doc, most medical problems require more than orange juice and aloe vera, not whatever bullshit nonsense PFL waved him through with, pretty much entirely fluff, so he's on Chorus studying medicine properly this time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 16:47:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30108999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dremma/pseuds/dremma
Summary: Loco finally accepts Donut's invitation to the weekly manicure party. Carolina makes sure Wash isn't left out.
Relationships: Agent Carolina & Agent Washington (Red vs. Blue), Dexter Grif/Dick Simmons, Franklin Delano Donut/Lopez
Series: Saving Private Loco [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2186220
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3





	The Art of Relaxation

When Donut invited them over for the usual weekly manicures, Loco decided he should go this time. It felt awkward, sure, being so close to everyone in Donut’s cozy room, but the atmosphere was warm and casual, and no one paid him too much close attention after the round of greetings. The windows were open already to remove the polish vapors, and a light, summery breeze was gently blowing Donut’s lace curtains to and fro.

“Mani Monday” was usually well-attended, but there were a handful of people missing this time: Tucker, who was off visiting Wash, Doc who was going to doctor school again on Chorus, and Sarge and Sam, who were off working on the A'rynasea together. They were supposed to be repairing the damage it had sustained on Sam’s last mission, but they were largely being left alone by the others because of their tendency to be overwhelmingly mushy together when Sam had been away for a while. Best to just leave them to their reconnecting. They’d come by next week, Sarge grumbling the whole way but still ending up enjoying himself.

Even Lopez and Carolina had showed up. Loco was surprised to find out Lopez had an android body beneath the armor, and was even more surprised to find out he enjoyed having his nails done. Since the nails didn't grow out, though, Donut usually did gel acrylic or fake nails that could be removed the following week.

“What’ll it be today, Lopez?” Donut asked cheerily, as Lopez pulled a sketch out of his pocket and handed it over. “Ooh, _this_ looks fun! Brought me a challenge today, I see.” Lopez’s interior fans seemed to whir more noticeably as Donut winked at him, but his flat expression didn’t change. 

Caboose pulled Loco over to the various drawers full of nail polish spread around on the floor. They were arranged meticulously by type and then by color, detailers and glitters corralled in their own sections. Grif and Simmons pawed through the collection of colors neatly arranged in a series of drawers.

“Should we pick different colors this time? We always end up with red and orange,” Grif complained without any real resentment. 

“ _Maroon_ and orange, fatass,” Simmons replied, similarly devoid of any real annoyance.

“Yeah, yeah. Ooh. Did you get orange glitter recently, Donut?”

“Yup!” Donut chirped, not looking up from where he was expertly deploying beads of gel onto Lopez’s nail beds. “Special order, as requested.”

“Nice.”

Carolina frowned at two bottles of nearly-identical light, muted blues. She held them out to Loco and Caboose. “Which one?”

Loco tilted his head. “Aren’t those the same color?”

Caboose made an exaggerated thinking face, and pointed to the one in her left hand. “That one.”

“They aren’t, actually,” Carolina said, a smile creeping up despite her attempt at sounding annoyed. “Just different enough to have to choose.”

“Hmm, I think I want to match Freckles again this time,” Caboose muttered to himself, clutching a flat royal blue color and looking through the detailers for the right shade of red to match Freckles’ freckles. He looked up. “Did you find a color you want, Loco?”

Donut glanced up at Loco, who was looking uncertainly at a tray of blues and greens. “You don’t have to pick a color either, if you don’t want to, Loco. There’s always clear-coats, or we can just tidy up your cuticles if you want. And if you don’t want to do anything at all, it’s cool if you just wanna hang out.” His warm smile was soothing, and Loco smiled back.

“Thanks, Donut. I think--I think, I want to do colors. It’s nice.” Caboose smiled and leaned over so their shoulders touched comfortingly. “Just gotta pick one.”

“Or ten!” Caboose said happily. “You could put a different color on every finger!”

“Or two,” Carolina said, opening up a silvery-blue reminiscent of Epsilon’s shimmery hologram color, and began working on her ring fingers. “Whatever you think looks nice.” She glanced up briefly. Loco looked a little more relaxed now, less nervous, looking through the drawers of nail colors with Caboose pressed against his side.

“Texture is good to think about too,” Donut said suddenly, using tweezers to place some tiny confetti-size cogs into the acrylic. “Glitters sometimes leave you with a sort of sandpapery feeling on top, and not everybody likes that.”

“I don’t like sandpaper nails,” Caboose grumbled.

“Yeah, that doesn’t sound fun,” Loco admitted. “Lots of these are glittery, tho.”

“ _Those_ dry smooth,” Simmons said, pausing in brushing a bright marigold undercoat on half of Grif’s nails, and motioned to another drawer sectioned off into glitters and thin bottles with tiny brushes. “These are all the glitters that dry into the sandpaper texture, because the glitter is bigger and rougher. The glitter in the regular polish is extremely small and because the base is viscous enough, the micro glitter is suspended homogeneously throughout--”

“Simmons, _Jesus,_ ” Grif groaned, “I thought we agreed you weren’t gonna nerd out when we were supposed to be relaxing.”

“I _was_ relaxing! Knowing how things work is relaxing for me--”

“Shut up and finish my nails, kiss-ass.”

“Christ,” Carolina muttered, and put the cap back on the bottle.

“I guess that made sense,” Loco said, feeling relieved. He had his eye on a dark, post-sunset-sky blue that glittered like the smooth finish on a car. “Then this one is ok.”

“That’s a pretty color, Loco,” Carolina said. “Want me to put it on for you? Easier if someone else does it, otherwise your non-dominant hand looks like ass.” The way she smirked made Loco think she’d ended up with one of her hands looking ‘like ass’ many times before. Loco nodded. Carolina could be scary sometimes, but she was a lot like Tucker, looking after all of them and making sure they were taking care of themselves.

“Donut insists on a proper base coat so it doesn’t chip,” she explained, smoothing out a clear polish over his nails first. She glanced up at Simmons, who looked like he was biting his lip firmly to keep from explaining why the base coat was useful.

“Chips are bad? I like chips though.”

“It’s when the polish breaks and pops off your nail in pieces.”

“Oh. Then that’s not good.”

“Right. It happens eventually, like anything else. Like when paint starts to chip off of a bench or an old wall. But the base coat keeps it nicer for a while.”

Donut had settled Lopez’s nails under the UV lamp and was helping Caboose with his nails. Caboose had trouble sitting still long enough for both a base coat, color coat and detailing, so there were a handful of colors marked ‘all in one’ that he usually picked from. Donut had helpfully put a blue sticker on top marked with “C” for him so they were easier to find.

Loco watched Carolina smooth the dark blue polish over each of his nails, finding comfort in both having his hand held and the intermittent conversations washing over him. Carolina was precise and deliberate about nearly everything, and painting nails was no exception. Not a single stray dot of polish lingered beyond the nail bed.

“Alright. Now don’t touch anything. Those have to cure for a bit.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Loco nodded with certainty and held his fingers out in front of him. They looked very different than normal, but the deep blue polish looking wetly lustrous like polished gems was a lovely sight, and the last thing he wanted to do was ruin them. He looked around at the others’ nails in the meanwhile. Carolina’s short nails were expertly polished in that light dusty blue that was nearly the same shade as her armor, except for the ring fingers, which sparkled in a very glittery silvery-blue.

Caboose was sitting with his fingers spread out, fidgeting, trying not to ruin Donut’s lovely job with the flat royal blue and the little red stripes, spots, and geometric designs on various nails. Lopez was admiring his fully-cured nails, jutting out a good quarter inch past his nail bed, half-translucent and glittering a deep bronze with little cogs buried deep in the acrylic catching the light from the lamp and the sunlight pouring in from the window.

Grif was holding Simmons’ hand gently, picking out a cool design in a bright orange over the deep maroon undercoat. His own nails alternated black and marigold with dark orange glitter over top, but his index finger was the same orange and maroon design he was putting on Simmons’ nails.

It was the longest Loco had ever seen him focus without needing a break for food, or do anything really without eating something at the same time, but he guessed it had something to do with having Simmons so close. Simmons’ face was bright red, but he was smiling softly down at his favorite fatass.

Donut was ruffling through the drawers, looking for his own colors. He handed over a silvery pinkish-purple to Lopez, who set to work getting Donut’s nails taken care of. His fans whirred loudly again as he took Donut’s hand in his own to start on the polish. Grif glanced over with a mischievous grin.

“Keep it in your pants, buddy,” he laughed.

“Eso es fuerte viniendo de ti.” [That’s rich coming from you.]

“Oh, don’t worry about those idiots, Lopez,” Donut said cheerfully, blushing a little bit himself as he watched Lopez carefully painting on the base coat. “They’re just jealous because you’re so cute.”

That lead to a round of shouting half-hearted insults and laughter, and Loco couldn’t help but smile. They might all be assholes to each other, but it was almost never meant in any seriousness. Caboose leaned on him again, tired of waiting on his nails to dry. He was still languidly waving his arms in the air, despite Simmons having told him (for the tenth time apparently) that air didn’t make a difference in how fast the nails dried because it was curing chemically.

“Your nails look pretty, Loco,” he said, cheek smushed against Loco’s shoulder. “Like sapphires.”

Loco leaned his head against Caboose’s. “Yours are nice too. You should show Freckles that you match.” Caboose nodded, jostling their heads a moment.

“I will. But, Biscuit always says I have to wait for long enough before I move because one time I smushed the nail polish against the wall and it was still kinda wet underneath. Kind of like how when you cook eggs the yellow part is still goopy even though the other parts are hard.”

“And then we had to take nail polish remover to the wall,” Carolina said, sounding more amused than mad, “which apparently eats into plasteel, so let’s not do that again.”

“Yeah. That too.”

Loco hummed contentedly. It was nice, hanging out and doing their nails and talking. Maybe he’d come again next week. There _was_ an endless collection of colors to try out, after all.

“Hey Grif,” Caboose said suddenly, “how come you did your pointer finger different? It’s red like Simmons.”

“I’m _maroon--”_

Grif held up his hand, fingers curled under except for his index finger pointing upwards, showing off the orange and maroon design. “Oh, this? It’s cause Simmons is my #1.”

“ _Grif!!_ ” Simmons’ face turned an even deeper red--maybe even maroon, you could say-- and he buried his face in Grif’s shoulder. Grif just laughed.

“What? It’s true.”

Carolina rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.

“Ah, amour~” Donut sighed, admiring his lightish-fuschia nails. Lopez did not miss the wink Donut sent his way afterwards, if the sudden whirring of fans was any indication.

Caboose tilted his head up to look at Loco. “This was fun! You’re coming next week, right?”

Everyone turned to look at him, but it didn’t feel awkward or threatening like it might have once had; all he could see was friendly curiosity. Loco smiled. “Yeah. Yeah, I will.”

  
  


\--

Carolina had arrived with an array of nail polish and a selection of videos and messages from the gang, as was their usual for Monday evenings. Wash hadn’t been super sure about the manicure parties at first, but as everyone had eventually succumbed to them, he found he didn’t mind the closeness and contentment it brought these days. Something familiar to keep him grounded when his mind would drift. 

Carolina was ridiculously fastidious about the painting as well, and sometimes the nurses would ask him, impressed with the tidy job, who had done them. He enjoyed watching their brains blue-screen when he answered that it was, in fact, the terrifying, intimidating super soldier lady that came by to check on him all the time.

This week, Donut had sent along a different selection of colors, and Wash selected a steel blue and a lemon yellow for detailing. Carolina was busy pulling lightning-shaped lines along the sides of his nails.

“Tucker behave himself?” she asked, brushing a strand of red hair from her temples.

Wash laughed. “He’s not a kid, Carolina. But yeah. It was nice. I’m glad he finally came by. We, uh. We had a lot of things to talk about, I guess.” He glanced away as she tried to catch his eye. No meaningful looks right now, please, his face was already on fire.

“Well, good. I was getting tired of dealing with _both_ of you with bugs up your ass about each other.”

“Lina…” Wash whined. She laughed.

“What? It’s true. You should have seen how mopey he was. I think even Caboose got tired of his sulking, must have yelled at him about it. I didn’t have to kick his ass near as hard as I thought to get him to come visit you.” She grinned at him. “And _you’re_ in much better spirits today than when I saw you two days ago.”

“Well, what can I say. Visits from friends always make things better.” They shared a genuine smile, and Carolina capped the yellow polish and sat back, letting Wash admire her handiwork. “You’re getting pretty good at this, Lina.”

“I get a lot of practice.” Carolina reached for her datapad and started scrolling through the messages and videos she’d brought along. “Loco came by this week, finally. I think he’s finally starting to feel more at home.”

“Loco…” Wash furrowed his brow, thinking. “That’s the new guy?”

“Yeah, Caboose’s new friend.” She paused. “Well, I guess he’s everyone’s friend, these days.” She grinned suddenly. “He fixed the water slide and Sarge’s crappy electrician job so the power doesn’t cut out randomly anymore.”

“Oh thank god,” Wash said, remembering more than once ending showers in the dark with the hot water running out too quickly, and late night reading cut short by wobbly power connections.

“He’s a nice kid,” Carolina continued, setting up the first video and settling in next to Wash to watch with him. “He even ‘tricked out’ Freckles with some new abilities.”

Wash stared at her. “Please stop letting Tucker teach you new words,” he begged. She laughed.

They both grabbed at the screen frantically to turn the volume way down when the video started to play. Loco and Caboose were both yelling and whooping as Freckles floated around, the jets on his feet spewing a blue-white flame.

 _“FRECKLES!! CAN YOU DO A LOOP-DE-LOOP?!”_ Caboose’s voice shouted from the screen. Freckles flew around in a loop and the two of them yelled in delight. Wash laughed brightly, a fond smile on his face.

“Well, that’s something you don’t see every day,” he said.

 _“What are you two idiots doing in here?”_ Carolina’s voice grumbled from the screen. 

“Oh, no,” Wash mumbled, trying to contain his laughter.

The camera swung around to show a very sleepy, very grumpy looking Carolina leaning into the lab door, her red hair mussed and flowing down her shoulders. Wash _lost_ it. Carolina watched him, grinning. 

“They’ve been pretty good about keeping the noise down at ass o’clock in the morning since then, but… it was kind of fun.” 

“Sounds like,” Wash said, catching his breath finally. “Hey, Lina?”

“Hm?”

“Thanks for keeping me in the loop,” he said, leaning against her shoulder tiredly. 

“Of course.” She leaned her head against his gently, and turned on the next video.

**Author's Note:**

> Grif and Simmons usually end up with some variation of their armor colors, blended or layered together on both sets of nails. Polish keeps Simmons from his nervous habit of biting his nails down to the quick, so Grif usually drags them over to Donut’s _salon de manucure_ every week.
> 
> Carolina’s usual color is, of course, [ Carolina Blue, ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_blue) because where would we be without self-indulgent punnery and symbolism?
> 
> Donut could probably become a very highly sought-after nail tech if he wanted to, but why deal with random, rude customers all the time if he could just hang out with his friends and make their nails pretty instead? ^^


End file.
